Stackable boat

ABSTRACT

An improved boat structure having excellent nesting characteristics when stacked for shipping or storage. The seats are removable and adapted to be stowed in the bottom of the boat. The sides of the boat have a lap strake configuration which strengthens the boat and provides an improved surface for mounting the seats. The bottom of the boat has depending keellike contours.

United States Patent 1191 Davidson et al.

1 1 Nov; 4, 1975 1 STACKABLE BOAT [75] Inventors: Samuel L. Davidson; William C.

Heidenreich; Phillip Hunter, all of Monroe, La.

[73] Assignee: Delhi Manufacturing Corporation,

Delhi, La.

[22] Filed: May 10, 1974 21 Appl. No.: 469,029

[52] US. Cl 9/2 S; 9/7

[51] Int. Cl. B63B 7/02 [58] Field of Search 9/7.l R, 2 S, 347, 11 A; 297/440, 452, 442; 5/352, 357

[56] References Cited 7 UNITED STATES PATENTS 523,151 7/1894 Perkins 9]? 2,987,114 6/1961 Klepper 9/11 A 3,041,109 6/1962 Eames et al. 297/442 3,142,849 8/1964 Jagemann et al. 9/7 3,179,961 4/1965 Ward et al. 1 9/7 3,611,458 10/1971 Gonzalez 9/2 S FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 9,683 6/1913 United Kingdom 9/1 R Primary Examiner-Trygve M. Blix Assistant Examiner-Charles E. Frankfort Attorney, Agent, or Firm-I-lolman & Stern ABSTRACT An improved boat structure having excellent nesting characteristics when stacked for shipping or storage. The seats are removable and adapted to be stowed in the bottom of the boat. The sides of the boat have a lap strake configuration which strengthens the boat and provides an improved surface for mounting the seats. The bottom of the boat has depending keel-like contours.

12 Claims, 16 Drawing Figures US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 1of3 3,916,466

US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 2 of3 3,916,466

f/aa

STACKABLE BOAT BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved boat structure. More particularly, the present invention relates to a stackable boat having a hull and seat configuration which imparts necessary strength to the boat and simultaneously provides excellent nesting characteristics of the boat when stacked for shipping or storage.

It has been found that, in the transportation of small boats of this type here exemplified, the freight charges are quite significant running as much as almost onethird of the total retail price of the boat. In previous small boat configurations, attempts have been made to provide a configuration which will allow stacking of the boat during shipment or storage, with special design of the hull and stowage compartments to allow stacking of as many boats as possible in a small space. Such boats of the prior art have not been sufficiently strong nor have they had particularly good nesting characteristics, with extensive amounts of space remaining between the hull of one boat and that of the boat above or below it. Furthermore, arrangements for storage of the seats and various other appurtenances for the boats have not al lowed economical use of the allotted space.

According to this invention, there is provided a stackable boat having hull and seat configurations which provide sufficient strength and excellent nesting characteristics for both shipping and storage. With the instant boat, it has been possible to stack as much as three times the number of boats in a given space than with conventional prior art structures. The economics of the use of such a construction are thus apparent.

The interrelationship of the various members of the boat of this invention allows the same to be easily assembled in a manner which provides a sturdy and durable construction.

The stackable boat of the present invention is provided with a hull having keel corrugations in the bottom, along with a special lap strake design in the upwardly inclined sides, the purpose of this lap strake configuration being to provide a mounting surface for the seats, as well as to strengthen the hull. Additional features of the boat of the present invention include a configuration of the seats which allows the seats to be easily installed or removed from the hull. Also, the position of the installed seats with respect to the hull avoids shear stresses on the bolts or other means employed to maintain the seats in position. The seats employed with the boat of the present invention are designed for use with a specially configured skirt which is locked in place, this locked conditionbeing accomplished by means such as roll-forming a locking flange which is located under the seats. In this way, additional flotation is provided along with a storage area, as both the inside of the seats and the skirts can be employed to house flotation material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The stackable boat of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. I is a perspective view of-the stackable boat of the present invention; 1

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the boat shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view in cross-section of the boat of FIG. 1, taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of two of the stackable boats of FIG. 1, shown with one boat nested or stacked inside the other;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view in cross'section of the boat shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5a is an expanded view of a portion of the unit shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 5b is a detailed view of a modification of the portion of the unit shown in FIG. 5a;

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of a seat construction employed with the stackable boat shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the seat shown in FIG. 6, taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a first modification of the seat shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a partial perspective view in cross-section of a second modification of the seat of FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a partial cross-sectional view of a third modification of the seat shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional view of a fourth modification of the seat shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 12 is a partial perspective view of the eye arrangement employed with the seat shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a bottom view ofa fifth modification of the seat shown in FIG. 6; and I FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a reenforceing arrangement.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the illustrated embodiment of the present inven tion as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a stackable boat 10 is provided, of aluminum or a similar material, with the sides 11 being formed, for example, at an angle of between approximately 12 and preferably l5-l8, to the vertical and having a lap strake design which provides a mounting surface on each side of the boat for the seats, three such seats being illustratively shown at 12, 13 and 14. The bow and stem 58, 59 of the boat may be formed as planar surfaces or any alternate design may be used. In one embodiment, each of the seats is formed of an upper and lower horizontal section, as shown in FIGS. l-7. However, one or more of the seats can be formed as a single section. These sections are stowable in the bottom portion of the boat 10, during storage and shipping as seen particularly in FIGS. 2-4 wherein the upper sections are designated 12a, 13a and 14a and the lower sections are designated 12b, 13 b and 14b, respectively.

As shown in detail in FIG. 4 where a nesting arrangement is illustrated, the bottom of the boat 10 is provided with three strengthening and stabilizing corrugations 51 which extend the length ofthe boat. These corrugations are spaced apart conventional distances for proper operation. V-shaped notches 52 can be formed in the unbracketed side of the flotation material 18 in each section of the seats to accomodate the corrugations 51. Thus, when the seats are stowed in the bottom of the boat, the notches'52 can be arranged so as to receive the corrugations 51 of another boat 10' (similar parties being designated with a prime) to be nested therein. However, even without notches 52, the arrangement is entirely practical, and the notches may be compression.

As one example of possible dimensions which may be employed in constructing the boat of the present invention, an interval of about 9 inches may be provided between corrugations 51, with the strakes 54 and 55 having a width of 4 and 3 inches, respectively. The width of the upper strake 56 will generally depend upon the particular use to which the boat 10 is to be adapted. The gunnels 57 are shown in a roll-formed construction, but conventional gunnels may be used. The dimensions of the corresponding seats would then be a width of about 9 inches and a height of about 2 inches. Of course, these dimensions are for illustrative purposes only and not limiting in any way on the instant inventive concepts.

In FIG. 5, there is shown the manner in which any of the seats such as seat 12 may be attached to the mounting surface on each side 11 of the lap strake construction, employing a mounting bracket 50 for strengthening if desired. A bolt 16 or other securing means is driven through vertical holes in the ends of the upper section 12a of the seat 12 for connection to the mounting surface or shoulder 15 formed by the-strakes on each side 11 of the boat 10. In this way, there is no shear force on the bolts 16 employed in attaching the seat 12 to the boat 10, since the bolt 16 passes vertically down through the seat 12 for attachment to each side 11 of the boat 10, rather than entering horizontally through the side of the boat, as in prior art configurations. The bolts can be arranged to be inserted from the bottom with nuts or other lock means attached to the seats, thus eliminating the top holes in the seats. FIG. 5a shows a presently preferred arrangement using flat washers and lock nuts, whereas FIG. 5b shows another preferred arrangement.

As also shown in FIG. 5, the foam 18 or other flotation material contained in the upper section 120 of the seat 12 may continue all the way to each end of the upper section or, alternatively, the foam 18 may continue only to the point at which the attachment means such as a bolt or screw passes down through the upper section 12a, so that the foam 18 comes to an end just short of the bolt holes at each end of the seat. FIG. 5 also shows the lower section 12b of the seat as having a length which is less than that of upper section 12a, the length of the lower section 12b being such as to allow the bottom edge of the outer ends of the lower section 1217 to abut the sides of the boat 10, thus providing additional stability for the seat.

In the embodiment of the seat 12 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, there are provided metal frames 60a and 60b which pass, respectively, across the top and around the side portions of the upper section 18a of the flotation material and the bottom and the side portions of the lower section 18b of the flotation material, thus maintaining the unity of the two sections 12a and -l2b of the seat 12. The upper surface of the frame 12a functions as a sitting surface and each of the lower ends of the frame 60a terminates in a longitudinally extending flange 21 which slidingly mates with the inner surface of a U-shaped flange 22 at the upper end of the frame 60b. A small cavity between the sections 18a and 18b of the flotation material is exaggerated in the drawings for illustrative clarity, this cavity being provided to permit the sliding engagement of the flanges 21 and 22. The upper frame 60a in essence is the seat and preferably is formed of a heavier gauge material than frame 60!) which merely serves as a flotation enclosing skirt.

By using a skirt which fully encloses the flotation material, the material is protected from accidentially spelled gas or the like thus permitting the use of less expensive flotation material. However, the skirt portion can have 5 various configurations, the main purpose being to support the flotation in place.

The flotation material 18 may be prefoamed polystyrene, polyurethane or'the like. If not enclosed, it should withstand the combined effects of gasoline, oil, saltwa- IO ter and sunlight. Such materials are readily available commercially. If enclosed, lesser grades can be satisfactory.

The bottom portion of the frame 60b, if desired, may go only partially across the flotation material [8b as 5 shown in FIG. 13 to form longitudinally extending flanges 40 connected at spaced locations by transverse braces 41 to minimize material.

In the modified seat embodiment 120 as shown in FIG. 8, a series of adjacent flotation units or bags 23 are arranged across the length of the seat 12, with a bracket or frame 24 passing across the top of all of the units 23 and partially down the sides, and with each side portion of the bracket 24 terminating in an inwardly directed flange 25, slidingly received in a groove 26 defined in the preformed units 23. Each flotation unit 23 may comprise an inflatable compartment, formed of rubber or similar material, and having an inflating stem 27 through which air is pumped. The use of multiple bags insures adequate flotation even in the event one of the units is punctured or otherwise damaged in use and thus deflated.

As shown in FIG. 9, upper and lower frames 28 and 29, slidingly engaged as in FIG. 7 are provided in a further modified seat 12d, the lower frame 29 merely providing protective sides for the units 23. Anaperture 30 is provided on one side of the seat for each flotation unit 23, to allow the degree of inflation of each unit 30 to be easily determined by the occupant of the boat, the visible portion of the unit being brightly colored, if desired, to facilitate an indication of full inflation.

In the embodiment l2e of FIG. 10, an attachment book 32 is provided on either side of the seat bracket 33 with a corresponding vertically extending attachment eye 34 for each flotation unit 23a on either side, the eyes 34 being adapted to flt over the hooks 32, thus providing a means of removably attaching the flotation units 23a to the seat bracket 33. The eyes 34 may be molded of rubber, plastic or similar material or even formed of metal and attached to the flotation units 23a by conventional means.

In the embodiment l2fof the seat as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a horizontal eye 36 is provided on either side of the upper surface of each flotation unit 23b, with a bolt 38 passing down through the top bracket 39 of the seat through the eye 36 on each side.

Testing has indicated that boats made according to the invention perform satisfactorily and that the inherent flex in the boat resulting from not attaching the seats to the floor actually tends to give superior performance and less leaking problems. I

Transoms, corner caps and the like can be incorporated in the same manner as now utilized in conventional units. Moreover, side bracing as shown in FIG. 14 can be provided to increase strength if desired.

While the above description of various seat configurations has been related to seat 12 in the drawings, it should be pointed out that such description applies equally as well to either of the other two seats 13 and 14 shown, for example, in FIG. I.

From the foregoing description, it is apparent that the subject apparatus provides a stackable boat which may be easily adapted for storage or shipping so as to take advantage of all usable space.

Additional advantages of the stackable boat of the present invention include the shoulder on each side of the boat for supporting the seat with the resulting absence of any shear on the screws or bolts employed to attach the seat to the boat. Furthermore, the particular configurations of the various seat embodiments allows easy installation and removal of the seats for stowage in the bottom portion of the boat as seen particularly in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 thus minimizing the space necessary during stowage and shipping of the boats.

It is thought that the invention and many of tis attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arg rangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the forms hereinbefore described being merely preferred embodiments thereof.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu sive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. A boat comprising a hull and at least one seat, said hull being elongated and having a bow end and a stern end, said hull including a bottom and opposed sides extending upwardly and outwardly from said bottom, at least one elongated strake formed in each of said sides, each of said strakes including inwardly extending portions defining a shoulder, each of said seats being elongated and including an upper sitting surface and opposed end portions adapted to be supported by the horizontal surface of said shoulders on opposite sides of said hull with the elongated dimension of said seats ex tending transversely across said hull in use, and with flotation means being carried by said seats beneath said sitting surface, said bottom of said hull and said seats being dimensioned such that said seats are adapted to rest on said bottom of said hull with said elongated dimensions of said seats extending longitudinally of said hull during storage and shipping whereby a plurality of said hulls may be nested to minimize space, said seats being formed with an upper and lower elongated section, each of said sections carrying flotation means, and including brackets which extend around the top and side portions of said upper section and at least partially around the bottom and side portions of the lower section, the brackets of the upper seat section having a lower end and the brackets of the lower seat section having an upper end, each of the lower ends of the brackets of the upper seat section terminating in a horizontal flange which slidingly mates with the inner surface ofa U-shaped flange at the upper end ofthe brackets of the lower seat section to allow for easy disassembly and storage of each of said seats.

2. The boat of claim 1 including a plurality of seats.

3. The boat of claim 2 wherein said bottom of said hull includes a plurality of longitudinally and downwardly extending strengthening corrugations, said flotation means carried by said seats including corresponding indentations, whereby a plurality of said boats may be stacked during storage and shipping with said seats resting on the bottom of said hull and said indentations in said seats accommodating the corrugations on the bottom of the hull of the next boat up in the stack.

4. The boat of claim 2 whereby a plurality of said boats may be stacked for storage and shipping with said seats resting on said bottom of said hull, said end portions of said seats being securable to said shoulders prior to use of said boat.

5. The boat of claim 1 wherein the flotation means of the upper section of the seat extends outwardly to the point at each end of the seat at which attachment means is provided for attaching the seat to the hull.

6. The boat of claim 1 wherein the length ofthe lower section of the seat is less than that ofthe upper section. the length of the lower section being such as to allow the bottom edge of the outer ends of the lower section to abut the sides of the boat, thus providing additional stability for the seat.

7. The boat of claim 1 wherein the brackets of the lower seat section terminate in flanges which extend only partially across the bottom of the lower seat section.

8. The boat of claim 1 wherein the brackets of the lower seat section extend across the entire bottom sur face of the lower seat section.

9. A boat comprising a hull and at least one seat, said hull being elongated and having a bow end and a stern end, said hull including a bottom and opposed sides ex tending upwardly and outwardly from said bottom. at least one elongated strake formed in each of said sides. each of said strakes including inwardly extending portions defining a shoulder, each of said seats being elongated and including an upper sitting surface and opposed end portions adapted to be supported by the horizontal surface of said shoulders on opposite sides of said hull with the elongated dimension of said seats extending transversely across said hull in use, and with flotation means being carried by said seats beneath said sitting surface, said bottom of said hull and said seats being dimensioned such that said seats are adapted to rest on said bottom of said hull with said elongated dimensions of said seats extending longitudinally of said hull during storage and shipping whereby a plurality of said hulls may be nested to minimize space, said seat being formed with a series of adjacent flotation units arranged across the length of the seat, a bracket passing across the top of the flotation units and partially down the sides, and with each side portion of the bracket terminating in an inwardly directed flange slidingly engaged in grooves formed in the flotation units.

10. The boat of claim 9 wherein each flotation unit comprises an inflatable compartment.

11. The boat of claim 9 wherein side brackets are provided for the lower portion of the flotation units, the side brackets having a U-shaped flange which mates with the inwardly directed flanges of the top bracket.

12. The boat of claim 11 wherein one of the side brackets is provided with an aperture for each flotation unit, to allow the degree of inflation of each flotation unit to be determined by the occupant of the boat. 

1. A boat comprising a hull and at least one seat, said hull being elongated and having a bow end and a stern end, said hull including a bottom and opposed sides extending upwardly and outwardly from said bottom, at least one elongated strake formed in each of said sides, each of said strakes including inwardly extending portions defining a shoulder, each of said seats being elongated and including an upper sitting surface and opposed end portions adapted to be supported by the horizontal surface of said shoulders on opposite sides of said hull with the elongated dimension of said seats extending transversely across said hull in use, and with flotation means being carried by said seats beneath said sitting surface, said bottom of said hull and said seats being dimensioned such that said seats are adapted to rest on said bottom of said hull with said elongated dimensions of said seats extending longitudinally of said hull during storage and shipping whereby a plurality of said hulls may be nested to minimize space, said seats being formed with an upper and lower elongated section, each of said sections carrying flotation means, and including brackets which extend around the top and side portions of said upper section and at least partially around the bottom and side portions of the lower section, the brackets of the upper seat section having a lower end and the brackets of the lower seat section having an upper end, each of the lower ends of the brackets of the upper seat section terminating in a horizontal flange which slidingly mates with the inner surface of a U-shaped flange at the upper end of the brackets of the lower seat section to allow for easy disassembly and storage of each of said seats.
 2. The boat of claim 1 including a plurality of seats.
 3. The boat of claim 2 wherein said bottom of said hull includes a plurality of longitudinally and downwardly extending strengthening corrugations, said flotation means carried by said seats including corresponding indentations, whereby a plurality of said boats may be stacked during storage and shipping with said seats resting on the bottom of said hull and said indentations in said seats accommodating the corrugations on the bottom of the hull of the next boat up in the stack.
 4. The boat of claim 2 whereby a plurality of said boats may be stacked for storage and shipping with said seats resting on said bottom of said hull, said end portions of said seats being securable to said shoulders prior to use of said boat.
 5. The boat of claim 1 wherein the flotation means of the upper section of the seat extends outwardly to the point at each end of the seat at which attachment means is provided for attaching the seat to the hull.
 6. The boat of claim 1 wherein the length of the lower section of the seat is less than that of the upper section, the length of the lower section being such as to allow the bottom edge of the outer ends of the lower section to abut the sides of the boat, thus providing additional stability for the seat.
 7. The boat of claim 1 wherein the brackets of the lower seat section terminate in flanges which extend only partially across the bottom of the lower seat section.
 8. The boat of claim 1 wherein the brackets of the lower seat section extend across the entire bottom surface of the lower seat section.
 9. A boat comprising a hull and at least one seat, said hull being elongated and having a bow end and a stern end, said hull including a bottom and opposed sides extending upwardly and outwardly from said bottom, at least one elongated strake formed in each of said sides, each of said strakes including iNwardly extending portions defining a shoulder, each of said seats being elongated and including an upper sitting surface and opposed end portions adapted to be supported by the horizontal surface of said shoulders on opposite sides of said hull with the elongated dimension of said seats extending transversely across said hull in use, and with flotation means being carried by said seats beneath said sitting surface, said bottom of said hull and said seats being dimensioned such that said seats are adapted to rest on said bottom of said hull with said elongated dimensions of said seats extending longitudinally of said hull during storage and shipping whereby a plurality of said hulls may be nested to minimize space, said seat being formed with a series of adjacent flotation units arranged across the length of the seat, a bracket passing across the top of the flotation units and partially down the sides, and with each side portion of the bracket terminating in an inwardly directed flange slidingly engaged in grooves formed in the flotation units.
 10. The boat of claim 9 wherein each flotation unit comprises an inflatable compartment.
 11. The boat of claim 9 wherein side brackets are provided for the lower portion of the flotation units, the side brackets having a U-shaped flange which mates with the inwardly directed flanges of the top bracket.
 12. The boat of claim 11 wherein one of the side brackets is provided with an aperture for each flotation unit, to allow the degree of inflation of each flotation unit to be determined by the occupant of the boat. 